With the rapid transition to remote learning, it’s been a trying time for many school districts across the country. After all, they’ve had a lot to figure out — from finding ways to bridge the digital divide to ensuring student security and privacy online.

Another major challenge is maintaining student attendance. When the novel coronavirus pushed schools to close their doors and adopt a remote learning model, many educators saw a drop in class attendance, according to Education Dive.

Thankfully, there are school districts that have found ways to tackle attendance during remote learning and conduct significant outreach to students and families who need it the most.

MORE ON EDTECH: Learn how K–12 schools are bringing elective classes online.

Redefining Attendance in a Remote Learning Environment

Chronic absenteeism is already a huge concern for many educators. Long-term school closures — such as those caused by the novel coronavirus — can aggravate that, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Low attendance rates during remote learning are especially apparent in schools with low-income students whose access to devices or an internet connection are limited to none, making it harder for educators to stay in touch with them, The New York Times reports.

With this concern, many school districts have decided to forgo formally tracking student attendance during remote learning. According to Chalkbeat, the Center on Reinventing Public Education has found that only 14 of 82 large districts they’ve been tracking have a policy for taking attendance.

“We’ve seen a lot of districts not have a policy at all or not be explicit about it,” CRPE Associate Director Bethany Gross tells Chalkbeat. “How will we know who we need to apply some extra resources to reach and connect with in this time? Our kids are everywhere.”